In Gaza, Israeli attacks have destroyed or damaged over 90% of homes and displaced more than 90% of the population. The destruction has created over 60 million tonnes of rubble – which is equivalent to 10 Great Pyramid of Gizas.
Green Rock, a community initiative in Gaza, is turning that rubble into bricks to build temporary homes. They are developing a process that allows displaced families to take the remains of their destroyed houses and construct new ones.
Green Rock has recruited a team of displaced men to produce ‘LEGO’ bricks that do, in fact, look like LEGOs. And these bricks are cement-free. The team uses the rammed earth technique, replacing cement with natural materials that reduce construction costs by up to 60%, since the bricks don’t need plastering or finishing.
The team crushes rubble by hand, removes impurities, and sifts the material into a manual metal machine that molds the rubble-soil mixture into a single brick with two large holes – designed to run electricity and water lines through.
Given the near-total destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, Green Rock is struggling to maintain the electricity, materials, and funding needed for production. They are currently raising money to complete their first prototype so they can begin housing families in temporary shelters as soon as possible.
You can support their mission through their GoFundMe.
You can read the original article at cairoscene.com